


Nicked Brains and a Bit of Soul

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Dark, Fluff, Friendship, Hogwarts Era, Horror, Romance, The Quidditch Pitch: From Diagon Alley to Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-25
Updated: 2006-10-25
Packaged: 2018-10-27 15:29:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10811799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione attempt to destroy a Horcrux on Halloween night.





	Nicked Brains and a Bit of Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

  
Author's notes: For the Halloween challenge.  


* * *

“Come again?”

 

“I said you are **famelicose**.”

 

Ron scowled. “What the –“ 

 

Hermione pointed to the heaping plates of eggs, sausages and kippers in front of him that he was wolfing down forkful after forkful. “It means you are often hungry, very hungry. Didn’t you say you had breakfast with Harry before I came down?”

 

Across the table, Harry smirked. “Yeah, well that was ten minutes ago.”

 

“Shud uff,” said Ron through a mouthful of egg. 

 

Hermione was staring at Ron as he ate as if it were something new and intriguing. As far as Harry knew there was certainly nothing new about Ron’s healthy appetite.

 

“Hermione?”

 

Without looking away from Ron she said, “Would you say dementors are **famelicose** as well?”

 

“Huh?” Both boys looked at her.

 

“The dementors…remember Lupin said they feed on every good emotion and memory. Is a dementor ever full? Do they ever reach a point where they become full and stop feeding?”

 

“No,” Ron’s hand was still in midair, holding his fork halfway to his mouth.

 

“Exactly.  And we know there are several dementors hovering about the school grounds again.”

 

Ron frowned. “Yeah, we know that but thanks for the cheerful reminder.”

 

Hermione ignored him. “So why don’t we give them a soul?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“We’ve tried everything to come up with a way to destroy the Horcrux in Hufflepuff’s cup. I think we may have overlooked the obvious. We give the dementors a Horcrux with a piece of Voldemort’s soul –“

 

“And let them suck it out.”

 

“Exactly. A dementor takes possession of a soul once it performs the kiss. The Horcrux, any semblance of Voldemort’s soul within it, would be destroyed.”

 

“Wicked,” Ron said. “One problem though. The cup is a thing. There aren’t any memories or emotions to for a dementor to feed on. Or are you suggesting those would be contained within the soul?”

 

“No, but I’ve got that all figured out,” Hermione waved her hand as if Ron’s concerns were of no significance.

 

Ron leaned closer to Harry. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

 

“It’s quite simple. We plant memories and emotions there with the Horcrux to attract the dementors.”

 

Ron and Harry exchanged a glance before turning back to Hermione. “How’re we going to do that?”

 

Hermione looked at Ron. “That brain that attacked you at the Department of Mysteries…Harry said there were images, almost like a roll of film – “

 

“A roll of what?”

 

Seeing where Hermione was going with this, Harry turned to Ron. “Film…it’s a muggle thing that holds images…moving pictures.”

 

“That’s right. Except those weren’t pictures in that brain. They were memories. But with just the brain there was no soul attached, so –“

 

“- we provide one with the Horcrux,” finished Harry. “Brilliant!”

 

“Hang on, are you saying that we’re going to take a brain from the Department of Mysteries and leave it out somewhere with the Horcrux for a dementor to find?”

 

“Exactly!” Hermione beamed.

 

Ron looked from Hermione to Harry in total shock. “Are you two completely mental? We’re walking around Hogwarts already with a piece of You-Know-Who’s soul in Harry’s rucksack and now you’re telling me we’re going to go stealing brains? Brains that attack, I might add?”

 

Hermione’s face fell. “I hadn’t thought of that. Oh well, we’ll find a way round that.”

 

“Oh sure, just wrap it up in a tea cozy or something.” Ron shook his head. “Mental, completely _mental_.”

 

“Right,” Harry checked his watch. “We’ll go to the Ministry tonight. McGonagall’s hired the dancing skeletons again for entertainment at the Halloween feast. No one will notice we’ve gone with all that going on. I’ll ask Dobby for some sandwiches to take with us.”

 

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to handle brains on an empty stomach.”

 

Later that evening, they made their way up to the North Tower. They had decided to fly from there to London since the floo network was still being watched and they would have to sneak outside the castle grounds to Apparate.

 

Walking along the castle corridors, Harry went back over the plan Hermione had laid out. “So we go to the Department of Mysteries, get the brain, come back here and put it inside the cup then leave it for the dementors to find, right?” 

 

Hermione nodded.

 

“Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be quite that easy,” said Ron, his expression grim. Suddenly, he stopped dead and rounded on Hermione. “Hang on, aren’t there special protective wards on the school? How’re we going to fly in and out of Hogwarts?”

 

“Oh, I verified that McGonagall lowered those to let the troupe of skeletons in and out of the castle for the feast.”

 

“How’d you verify that? No, wait,” Ron shook his head seeing the expression on her face. “I don’t think I want to know.”

 

Harry stopped walking to pull the Maraurder’s Map from his pocket. He checked to make sure everyone, especially Filch, was elsewhere. “I still can’t believe the cup was really Riddle’s transfigured shield for Special Services to the School. It’s been right here all this time and Dumbledore…,” he looked from Hermione to Ron and back again. “You never did say how you figured it out.”

 

“We were in the trophy room and Ron mentioned Riddle’s shield that he had to polish for detention back in second year and –“

 

“What were you doing in the trophy room?”

 

Ron looked away and Hermione’s cheeks went pink. “Oh! Er…well…”

 

Harry looked from one to the other of his best friends. “Never mind,” he said, smirking.

 

Checking the map first to be sure Professor Trelawney was no where near, they climbed up the ladder to the dark Divination classroom at the base of the tower. Hermione, who had not been there since walking out of Divination four years before, lit her wand, gave the round room a quick glance and muttered something that sounded like “rubbish.”

 

Once up on top of the North Tower, they mounted their brooms and kicked off. Since Hermione did not own a broom, Ron had her ride with him.

 

It was a long, cold ride before they finally found themselves crowded into the red telephone box on a London street. After dialing the correct number which Harry remembered from his previous trips to the Ministry, the familiar disembodied voice asked them to state their business.

 

“Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger here to…er…”

 “Pick some brains,” Ron joked but evidentially he was overheard for they were quickly issued silver badges and told to affix them to their robes 

The telephone box dropped through the ground and the next thing he knew, Harry found himself standing inside the deserted Atrium with Ron and Hermione

 

They rode the lift down to the Department of Mysteries and found the brain room without much difficulty. 

 

“Right then,” said Ron, standing in front of  the enormous tank filled with green liquid. “How do we get it?”

 

Harry realized he had no idea. He looked at Ron. “Well, we’re definitely not going to use _Accio_.”

 

“That’s not funny, Harry.”

 

“What if we try levitating it without summoning it?” Hermione pulled out her wand.

 

“Wait!” Ron reached out and grabbed her wand hand. “I’ll do it. No sense you getting scars if it doesn’t work. I know what to expect.”

  _“Wingardium Leviosa!”_

One of the brains slowly rose from the tank. Using a Hover Charm, Ron guided it with his wand across the room. 

 

“Okay,” Ron looked at Harry. “This looks like it might work.”

 

Carefully, Ron kept his wand up, guiding the hovering brain as they went back through the circular black room, into the lift, through the Atrium and back up to the ground level inside the telephone box. 

 

Finding a spot in an alleyway behind the Ministry, they once again kicked off the ground, Hermione at the helm of Ron’s Cleansweep so he could continue guiding the brain along with the Hover Charm as they flew slowly and as low as they dared back to Hogwarts.

 

“We should probably land as close as possibly to the Forbidden Forest,” said Hermione. “It’ll be dark there and no one from the castle will be able to see us.” She frowned and looked at Harry. “Where is the cup?”

 

Harry slapped his forehead. “I forgot the cup! We’ll have to go back inside the castle first!”

 

They landed atop the North Tower from where they had left just a few hours earlier. As quickly and as quietly as possible, they snuck back to Gryffindor Tower so Harry could run up to his dormitory and get the cup from his trunk.

 

Hermione cast a Hover Charm to take over guiding the brain from Ron whose arm was sore from holding it up so long. He ran up the dormitory stairs behind Harry and they both descended back into the common room minutes later with Harry’s rucksack containing Hufflepuff’s cup only to find Hermione tapping her foot with an irritated expression on her face at the base of the boys’ staircase.

 

“What took you so long?”

 

“Sorry,” said Ron though he hardly looked it. “We just took a minute. All that cold night air…”

 

“Rubbish,” she snorted. “Let’s go.”

 

They had just climbed back through the Portrait Hole when they heard a voice behind them.

 

“Oh, you are coming then!”

 

Hermione gasped and jerked, almost forgetting about the Hover Charm but caught herself at the last moment. They spun around to find Nearly Headless Nick floating along behind them.

 

“I was afraid, well…it had grown so late that I was sure no one was going to show up. But you are coming, aren’t you?”

 

“Er…” 

 

“I was afraid perhaps you all had not received your invitations. I know I set the time rather late this year but I felt if I held it after the Halloween feast perhaps I would have a larger turnout.”

 

“Well…”

 

“I will just pop back down and make certain everything is in order. I shall see you all in a few minutes! How honored I am to have you all with me to celebrate my Deathday once again!” And before any of them could say anything, Nearly Headless Nick had floated on down towards the dungeons.

 

For a moment no one said anything, they just looked at each other helplessly.

 

“This is the end,” Ron said finally. “I mean I am not going to another one of his- “

 

“Ron,” Hermione laid her free hand on his arm. “You saw how much it means to him.”

 

Harry looked from Hermione to Ron. “Maybe it isn’t such a bad idea. If we do run into Filch or McGonagall, it does give us a reason to be out of Gryffindor at this time of night.”

 

“Oh, sure. What could be more perfect than going to a Deathday party for a ghost on Halloween while we’re carrying a piece of You-Know-Who’s soul in your bag? Oh, and what do we say about that?” He pointed to the brain, hovering a few feet behind Hermione. “Do we just say, oh, don’t mind the brain. Just taking it out for a stroll. Like it’s a ruddy dog or something.”

 

Harry looked at Hermione. “Can you transfigure a brain to look like a dog?”

 

Ron growled and threw his hands up in the air. “Let’s go…Deathday party! _Hell_!”

 

Being careful to look around corners before they exposed themselves and the brain, they slowly descended to the dungeons. They expected the air to grow colder as it had back in their second year when they had attended Nick’s five hundredth Deathday party, but the dungeons proved to be no cooler than usual for that time of night.

 

They didn’t see any candles with blue flames until they entered the dungeon where Nick had assembled the Fat Friar and the Grey Lady. The Bloody Baron was no where in sight.

 

“He couldn’t make it,” sighed Nick. “Had to handle Peeves who was off making Filch’s underwear do rude things to Madame Pince’s unmentionables.”

 

“Well, of course he’d want to take care of that,” said Hermione. She was nervously trying  to keep the brain hovering behind her and stayed as close to the wall as possible to keep it out of sight. 

 

“Miss Granger? Care for refreshment?” Nearly Headless Nick pointed to the table against the far wall, laden with rotting food and a tureen filled with a dark red substance. 

 

“Oh, no, thank you. We just ate.”

 

“Yeah, and we were just leaving…ow!” Hermione stepped hard on Ron’s foot.

 

The room suddenly grew colder as three more ghosts floated in. 

 

“Ah! So glad you could come!” Nick went over to greet his new guests.

 

Ron leaned in closer to Hermione and Harry, being careful to dodge the hovering brain. “Okay, there are other guests. Now can we go?”

 

Hermione shushed him as Nick returned to introduce them to a portly male ghost whose name they didn’t catch, and a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Harry remembered the knight from the previous Deathday party five years before.

 

“I say, is that a brain you have there?”

 

Hermione, Harry and Ron froze. The portly ghost had spotted the hovering brain that had moved as Hermione had accidentally lowered her tired hand.

 

“Oh…er…”

 

“I kept mine in my head, you know. Devilishly squishy things, brains.”

 

“Did you really?” The knight sounded bored.

 

“Refreshments?” Nick had returned after greeting another ghost at the door.

 

“I say Porpington! This lady here has a brain!”

 

“Ah yes!” Nick smiled. “Miss Granger is much admired for her sharp intellect!”

 

“But, I say!” The portly ghost sputtered as Nick led him away.

 

For an awkward moment, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood there with the knight in silence. Ron caught Harry’s glance and had just nodded towards the door when the knight finally spoke.

 

“No food for me,” he gestured towards the table plied with rotting food. “Quite off the stuff…well, when you’re dead you don’t have much option. But after watching an angry witch send rat entrails down a Poltergeist’s throat last night, well I mean to say its put me right off.”

 

Ron frowned. “I didn’t know Poltergeists eat things.”

 

“Well, they don’t really. But the damned thing had angered the witch so much that she sent the wad of stuff flying right into its mouth. Dead disgusting, really.”

 

“Speaking of flying…”Harry glanced pointedly at his watch.

 

Hermione smiled. “Yes, we do need to go. It’s getting quite late.”

 

The knight bowed at her. “Yes, I suppose for the living it is. Well, dodge any wayward entrails I say!” He shuddered. “Rat entrails! Right down his throat! I ask you! Good thing I can’t eat anymore. Would put me right off otherwise.”

 

“Yeah,” Ron muttered, holding his stomach. “Good thing.”

 

“Come on,” Harry tried not to let the cup in his rucksack bang against anything as he turned around. “Let’s say a quick happy…er…let’s say good-bye to Nick.”

 

They left as quickly as they could and made their way outside the castle to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

 

After walking a good distance into the forest, they came upon a clearing. Ron looked around as they stopped. 

 

 “Are you sure about this?”

 

“No,” said Harry. “But it’s our best guess as to where the dementors might lurk.

 

“How d’you mean?”

 

“Well, if you were a dementor roaming near the school would you hang out in an empty Quidditch pitch, over the lake or in a forest filled with creatures outside the grounds?”

 

“Right.Where to then?”

 

Hermione looked around. “Actually, here would be good. We don’t want to go too far into the forest.”

 

Harry frowned. “Why?”

 

“Well, it’s probably best to be as close to the castle as we can when they show up.”

 

“Maybe they won’t,” said Ron. “I mean we’re only going on Fudge telling McGonagall they’re around and that there isn’t anything she or Scrimgeour can do about it. Fudge could be wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time.“

 

Harry sighed. Ron did have a point. They hadn’t actually seen any dementors. What if there really weren’t any? If that were the case they would need to figure out what to do with the brain and they would still have no idea how to destroy the Horcrux within the cup. 

 

“Well, let’s give it a try.” Harry dropped his rucksack and quickly pulled out Hufflepuff’s cup. He set it down in the middle of the clearing. 

 

“All right Hermione, lower the brain.”

 

Slowly, she guided the brain into the cup with her wand. “Done.”

 

Ron frowned. “I’ve just thought of something. Don’t dementors suck out a soul through a person’s mouth?”

 

“Yeah…oh.” They all looked down at the cup for a moment.

 

Hermione sighed. “I didn’t think of that.” She looked at Harry. “It may not work, then.”

 

Harry growled in frustration. “We’ll just have to think of something.”

 

For a few minute the only sound was the wind in the trees surrounding them.

 

“I’m not thinking of anything.” Harry looked to Hermione who shrugged helplessly.

 

“Are you cold? Is it getting colder?” Ron rubbed his hands together.

 

“Well, it is almost November,” she said absently turning back to Harry. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. It’s just so weird –“

 

“Oh no more weird than skulking around a ruddy forest full of murderous creatures on Halloween night, with a brain we nicked from the Ministry and a bit of You-Know-Who’s soul. Nope, nothing weird going on here.”

 

Hermione ignored Ron. “We’ll have to find a way for the dementor to get to it through a mouth.”

 

“Well,” Harry nodded. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

 

Ron cleared his throat. “Well, if you shrunk the cup and the…thing,” – he couldn’t bring himself to say _brain_ – enough it could be ingested, right?”

 

Hermione’s eyes widened and she rounded on Ron. “No!”

 

Harry looked stunned. “Mate, you’re not thinking –“

 

“Well, how else are we going to do this? We can’t have The Chosen One snuffing it before his meeting with You-Know-Who, yeah?”

 

Hermione cut in, “Well, I could –“

 

“No, you won’t.” Ron’s voice was firm.

 

“This is insane,” Harry fumed. “We are not doing this. Not like that.”

 

“Well, do you have any other ideas?”

 

“Something will hit me.” Something did. There was a sudden rumbling sound and before Harry could decide where it was coming from Hermione was screaming as the earth by Harry’s foot gave way and a slimy, white hand reached up out of the ground, grabbing onto Harry’s ankle.

 

Harry tried to tug his ankle away. Ron pointed his wand and shouted “ _Impedimenta!”_ The hand let go, but three more sprung up from the earth grabbing onto Ron and Harry.

 

_“Impedimenta! Impedimenta!”_

 

Harry pointed his wand. _“Petrificus Totalus!”_

 

Hermione was frozen, her eyes wide with horror, her screams still ringing through the cold night air.

 A couple of pale bodies were rising out of the earth. One of them reached out towards Hermione but Ron pulled her away. 

“Oh my God!”

 

“Hermione!” Harry shouted. “Fire! Fire repels them!”

 

She looked around wildly as if she didn’t know what to do.

 

“Hermione, your wand!” Ron’s words seemed to sink through the fog of fear that had settled over her. Hermione looked at her wand as if just realizing she had it.

 

_“Incendio!”_

 

The dead bodies that had risen from the ground fell back but more were breaking through the earth, clawing their way up.

 

_“Incendio! Incendio!”_

 

“Harry! Come on!” Ron and Hermione were starting to run but Harry hesitated. 

 “The cup! The Horcrux! We can’t leave it for the Inferi to take! We have to –“ “Oh!” Hermione stopped dead. “Harry! That’s it!” 

But what she was thinking Harry didn’t know because before Hermione could continue another dead body had risen through the ground next to Ron. Harry pointed his wand at it only to notice that his wand was covered in ice. The temperature had dropped drastically and before Harry could utter the spell to ward off the Inferi, two dementors swooped down towards them.

 

“What’s going on? Where did they come from?”

 

 “Run!” Ron turned and, half holding Hermione up, started running back towards the castle almost dragging her along with him. He only made it a few feet before stumbling over another body that sprung up from the ground right in front of them sending both he and Hermione sprawling.

 

“The Patronus Charm! Think of your best memory!” Harry shouted at his friends in desperation. They had both conjured their Patronuses before but that had been back in fifth year. Harry closed his eyes, pointed his wand up towards the gathering group of dementors above.

  _“Expecto Patronum!”_  

Hermione shrieked as an Inferius climbed up and grabbed her arm. Ron pointed his wand at it but a dementor swooped down right in front of them. 

 

 “Ron!” Harry shouted again. “Your Patronus! Use your Patronus!”  

 Ron raised his wand and took a deep breath. _“Expecto Patronum!”_ A small silvery light in the shape of a small animal ran out of the tip of his wand towards the dementors. When they fell back, it returned and ran in a circle around Hermione warding off the Inferi nearest her.  

While the dementors fell back, the Inferi kept rising up. New Inferi climbed over ones that had been cursed back by Ron. Harry struggled to maintain his Patronus but the dementors returned in repeatedly growing numbers. Harry, Ron and Hermione were being overwhelmed.

 

“Harry! Come on!”

 

He tried to get to Ron and Hermione but he was shaking from performing the Patronus Charm for so long and the Inferi were breaking through the earth all around him as he stumbled over to his friends, dodging the rising dead as he went.

  _“Impedimenta!”_  

Harry got to them just as Ron was pulling Hermione to her feet. Hermione jumped and fell again as yet another Inferius hand sprang up from the ground right next to her.

 

Ron jerked his wand towards it, but Hermione grabbed his arm.

 

 “No Ron! Wait!”

  _“Wait?”_  

Hermione pointed her wand at the nearby Inferius. Ron cursed three more who were getting near and Harry raised his arm, gearing himself up to ward off the increasing number of dementors that were hovering lower again.

 

Suddenly, a loud rattling sound broke through the trees. Lights flashed and Harry realized something big was coming straight towards them

 

“Now what?”

 

Paying it no attention, the dementors swooped lower and lower again, trying to dive towards them.

 

“What the hell is that?” Ron shouted, but he had no sooner asked the question then it became obvious what it was. 

 

The hulking, rusted, dented ruin of a car that had once belonged to the Weasleys was clattering closer, running down any Inferi in its path.

 

There was a moment where Harry was uncertain if the car intended to run them down or rescue them, but it stopped just feet away throwing its doors open.

 

Holding his wand up, Harry ran to the open passenger side door.

 

“Get in!”

 

Ron turned to Hermione, shocked to find her casting a shrinking charm on Hufflepuff’s cup.

 

“Hermione! Get in the car!”

 

But she continued to shrink the cup, taking it down to the size of a small biscuit.

  _“Hermione!”_

Ignoring Ron’s pleas, she spun around, pointing her wand at the dead body nearest her that was just closing its slimy hand around her foot. 

  _“Calyxiwasi!”_

The now tiny Hufflepuff cup soared through the air and into the rotting, gaping mouth of the corpse.

 

Other Inferi were now surrounding the car. There seemed to be an unending number of them and the dementors were swooping down low.

 “HERMIONE!”

Ron scooped Hermione up and half threw her onto the seat, budging her over as he got into the car which took off before he could finish closing his door. 

 

“The Horcrux!” Harry looked out the back window but he could no longer see Hufflepuff’s cup. The dementors seemed to be flocking around one Inferius, as if they were going to perform the kiss.

 

Hermione was looking back, too. 

 

Harry had one last fleeting thought of the cup before realizing that if the car didn’t kill them by running into something as they dodged trees and an ever increasing number of Inferi popping up out of the ground  then the Inferi or the dementors certainly would.

 

Ron’s fingers gripped the steering wheel. It was impossible to tell if he was driving the car or if it were driving itself. The car jerked and bumped, tossing the three of them around the front seat.

 

Once outside the Forest, there were no more Inferi but the dementors were swooping low again and seemed to be all around the car, its rusted metal and the speed at which they were traveling the only things keeping them at bay. 

 

The car seemed to pick up speed as the castle loomed up ahead. It skidded to a frantic halt just outside the oak front doors. Throwing the door open, Harry jumped out, raising his wand.

 

_“Expecto Patronum!”_

 

All his effort, all his concentration was focused on his Patronus, on keeping it going until Ron and Hermione were inside the castle doors. But once they reached the doors, Hermione charmed them open and Ron dashed back and dragged Harry quickly by the arm into the castle, shutting the oak doors behind them.

 

Panting, the three of them could only lean against the doors for several moments. 

 

“How did you get the doors opened? It’s way past hours.”

 

“Dunno,” Ron gestured tiredly towards Hermione. “She did it.”

 

“Well,” Hermione was still breathing hard. “McGonagall said –“

 

“Outside at this time of night? Explain yourselves!” 

 

Before any of them could blink, Professor McGonagall herself appeared before them seemingly from nowhere. Harry might have thought she’d Apparated there were it not for the fact that Hermione had told he and Ron enough times that one could not Apparate within the school grounds.

 

“We…uh…”

 

“Well, you see…”

 

“Er…”

 

The Headmistress was shaking with indignation. “Seventh year students, not only out of House, but out of the castle at this time of night! Gryffindors at that! Especially you, Potter! With all the protections we have in place and you…do you have any idea what might be out there? Haven’t we told you enough that the grounds near the Forest are no longer safe? You haven’t been near the Forest, have you? There could be…the Forest isn’t within the wards of the school. The dementors!  There could be dead -” She didn’t give them a chance to respond as she rounded from Harry to Ron and Hermione. “And Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger! Head Boy and Head Girl! What sort of example is this for the rest of the students?”

 

“Well,” Ron said, “No one else saw us. We –“

 

“Enough! Detention to all three of you starting tomorrow night and every night this week! Now, go straight to your dormitories!”

 

In disbelief they stumbled up the stairs.

 

“Detention! Ruddy detention! We go through all that…we’re of age!”

 

“Well, yes I think that’s why she was so angry,” Hermione added. “We should know better.”

 

“Know better! Know better than to practically get ourselves killed by dead bodies, dementors…oh, let’s not forget brains and bits of soul here and there! Can you believe our luck?”

 

“Ron! Keep your voice down!”

 

“Detention…” he muttered. “Example for other students… _bloody hell!”_

 

They had reached the Gryffindor common room when Harry finally remembered the cup. He grabbed Hermione’s arm before she could climb the girls’ staircase. “The Horcrux! Hermione, we went through all that and we lost it.”

 

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” She asked, yawning. “It’s taken care of.”

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah,” Ron smirked. “She did some spell and sent the cup and the brain into one of those…” he closed his eyes, held his arms out straight and walked woodenly like a zombie.

 

Hermione slapped his arm. 

 

“You did what?”

 

“Well, I got the idea from that knight at Nearly Headless Nick’s party.”

 

Ron looked puzzled. “The one who witnessed the rat entrails feast?”

 

“You mean you -?”

 

Hermione nodded. “Lupin actually used the spell back in third year.”

 

Ron and Harry blinked. Hermione huffed.

 

“Don’t you remember? Peeves and the chewing gum. Lupin used the spell to send chewing gum up Peeves’s nostril. Only Lupin used _Waddiwasi_ and I just adapted it to _Calyxiwasi_ to send the cup instead of a wad of gum.”

 

Harry looked amazed. “You remember that from third year?”

 

She looked from one to the other before frowning. “Well, of course. Don’t you two pay attention?”

 

Harry ignored that. “So, you sent the Horcrux…”

 

“With the brain inside it,” Hermione added.

 

“Into an Inferius?” 

 

She nodded, looking rather pleased with herself.

 

“So the dementors were performing the kiss on that Inferius. They did get the Horcrux?”

 

Hermione nodded. “I believe so.”

 

“Brilliant!”

 

Ron shook his head. “Mental, more like.”

 

Harry snorted and yawned widely. 

 

Hermione looked concerned. “Harry, you’d better eat some chocolate right away. You kept that Patronus Charm up for a long time.”

 

“Yeah, I think I’ll go up. What a night!” He smiled at Hermione. “I can’t believe you thought of that! That really was brilliant, Hermione.” Turning, he climbed the stairs tiredly.

 

After watching Harry for a moment, Hermione rounded on Ron. “At least Harry’s pleased that I thought of it.”

 

Ron held up his hands defensively. “Oh, I’m quite pleased you thought of it. Amazed as always, but pleased.” At her snort, he held out a hand to stop her as she turned towards the girls’ staircase. “I’m always proud of you. A bit nervous at times, but proud.”

 

She smiled as he said goodnight and turned to follow Harry up the stairs.

 

“Ron?”

 

He turned back. “Yeah?”

 

“I was just curious. Your Patronus was so strong…stronger than when we were in the D.A. and I wondered…what memory did you think of? Was it when you found out your Dad would survive the snake bite?”

 

Ron’s cheeks went pink. “Er…no. I thought of my birthday.”

 

“Oh. Which one?”

 

Ron hesitated then stepped closer and leaned towards Hermione as if he didn’t want to be overheard. “My last one.”

 

She frowned. “But you were poisoned your last birthday.”

 

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, but you started talking to me again.”

 

“Oh! Well… I’d been **aching** to talk to you,” her cheeks flushed.

 

“You make me **ache,** as well.” Reaching out, he pulled her up against him. For a few minutes they just held each other.

 

“Ron? Do you think Harry is all right? After all that?”

 

Pulling away, Ron sighed. “Yeah, he’s fine. Especially now that we’ve destroyed a Horcrux…well, one of them anyway. I still can’t believe you thought of some spell from third year…ruddy scary you are at times.”

 

“Well, it’s made for an interesting Halloween.”

 

“Aren’t they always round here? Glad this is our last year. Don’t think I could stomach another one of Nick’s parties.”

 

“It meant a lot to him that we were there.”

 

“Yeah, well at least he’s finally ditched this Headless Hunt thing. Bad crowd, that lot. I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for old Nick. If I was a ghost, I certainly wouldn’t want to hang around this place.”

 

Hermione huffed, “Well, it wasn’t as if he had a choice, Ron.”

 

“Please, don’t start an organization for ghost rights. I don’t think I could take that.” Ron suddenly had a thought. “You don’t think Vol – I mean You-Know-Who could come back as a ghost, do you? I mean once we’ve found all these Horcruxes and Harry’s snuffed him?”

 

A look of horror crossed Hermione’s face before breaking out into a smile. “He’d have to deal with Peeves.”

 

“Oh,” Ron snorted. “Yeah.”

 

 Still smiling at that thought, he kissed her lightly on top of her head before disappearing up the stairs. 

 


End file.
